The Story of this Cutscene is about the Legend of Atlantis, and its destruction, and as the young warrior Kaleirath fights to achieve justice and save his loved ones.

Because of lacking time, there might still be some bugs that might make some things unenjoyable. I hope you still like it though.

Features:
~42 Minutes of Breathtaking Action
~Extensive Modding wich allows you to see Stunning Effects
~A Strong Soundtrack as well as a lot Sound Effects
~525 Triggers for those who want to know
~And a lot more...

Instructions on how to install are included in the README file that comes with the download.
Please play on Normal Speed and a Screen Resolution of 1024x768, and turn the ingame music to OFF.

Paradise Lost is Dragonslayermcmx's submission to the Annual Cutscene Competition. It is a very engaging cinematic that is set in the legendary realm of Atlantis. It is not the first with this theme, and probably not the last, but it's certainly one of the better depictions of this legend for AOK.

Playability: 4
Almost all aspects of the cutscene were very enjoyable, and modding was put to good use enhancing the atmosphere. The only shortcomings were the very standard story and characters. The cinematic did remind me of a Michael Bay movie, action packed, and extremely enjoyable visually, but with a story that is somewhat lacking, and characters that say and do exactly what you would expect them to. In some cases, this wasn't true, but then the characters just acted weirdly (such as the main character coming out of hiding to face all the enemy's minions by himself, there are a few more unrealistic scenes like this one which can raise one's eyebrow). All in all though, it was a fantastic experience, and I've saved the rest of the review for mostly positive feedback :)

Balance: 5
The cutscene flowed nicely, with music and sounds fitting perfectly with what is going on visually. The only slight drawback that I could find was the gallop of the characters' horses which can be heard after they've stopped. If this is a negative that I feel the need to point out, you can tell how well polished this is. The only cutscene of such length I've ever watched with so few mistakes or bugs to point out is Andan's "Fight against fate".

Creativity: 5
Great! A well designed map, and extremely enjoyable modding effects that turn this into somewhat of a Hollywood blockbuster. I won't spoil them for you, suffice it to say they're ... apocalyptical enough. And the soundtrack fits the things happening on screen perfectly. All in all, Dragonslayer certainly didn't disappoint here.

Map Design: 5-
Generally speaking, the map looks exquisite and fits the story. I do have a problem with the mixing of mesoamerican and arabic buildings, I don't think they fit together, and there was an indoor scene with a mining camp that looked weird, but other than that it's really great. Most of the indoors looked really as good as AOK allows it, and the landscapes looked pretty good too. No reason to deduct one point here.

Story/Instructions: 4
As stated previously, this was a bit of a weak spot for the cinematic. Both the protagonist and the villain are very standard, faceless characters. I did enjoy that the author brought some humor in the mix. And the ending basically saved a lot of the story for me, I found it very poetic and it left me with a really good impression.

Additional Comments:

This is a great cutscene that could become an AOKH classic. Needless to say, it's a recommended upload and it's well worth it to replace your .dat file for 45 minutes. Well done, Dragonslayer!

PossidonOfficial Reviewer

Posted on 09/27/14 @ 09:41 AM

Rating

4.8

Breakdown

Playability

5.0

Pacing

5.0

Creativity

5.0

Map Design

5.0

Story/Instructions

4.0

Paradise Lost is Devestator's (dragonslayermcmx) entry to the 2012 Annual Cinematic Scenario Contest, where it tied for 1st Place. The story is set in the Legendary City of Atlantis and follows Kaleirath, a young warrior in the service of the King of Atlantis, who is fighting for justice and his loved ones, and concludes with the inevitable destruction and loss of the city.

Playability: 5
The scenario is a cinematic scenario which means it is one long cutscene and there is no player interaction, you just have to sit back and watch. Don't let this put you off though, the cinematic is highly and enjoyable and has an atmosphere that makes you think you're watching a movie. The story is very entertaining and dramatic and keeps you on the edge of you;re seat. The atmosphere is superb and the music really helps the cinematic seem real as though you;re watching a movie.

Pacing: 5
The pacing of the cinematic is perfect. The music fits the story perfectly, and the sound effects bring a level of atmosphere only seen in the very best scenarios. The sound effects and music are in perfect sync with the dialogue and what's going on on-screen. I really loved that the sound effects for the volcano and the destruction of the city were in perfect sync with everything, this is something that is very hard to do. It have perfectly paced cinematic which is very impressive considering the length of it.

Creativity: 5
This is a very strong point of the cinematic. The author has created his own data file which comes with the cinematic. It doesn't change any graphics so it still looks like the game we love, but it allows us to enter the world of Atlantis the author has interpreted. The data files allows us the visibly see things that would otherwise be impossible to see without data editing such as active firing volcanoes and night scenes through the fog of war. The effects in this scenario are something from another game, and really help give the cinematic a Hollywood atmosphere.

Map Design: 5
The map design is beautiful. Devestator has really gone to al efforts to bring his audience into the world of Atlantis. This city is designed beautifully, and has an interesting mix of buildings, mixing the Mesoamerican building set with the Arabic building set. Where some people may not think these two fit together, I thought the blend quite nicely together. The city was nicely designed and had a good placement of buildings, not too crammed together, but not to spaced out. The palace was exceptionally good. Even better than the city was the countryside outside the city walls. It was very pretty and a very good use of terrain mixing of eye-candy was used. Plants and Trees were used exceptionally. The only thing that bothered me was that some places were a bit bland and could have used a bit more eye-candy or terrain mixing.

Story/Instructions: 4
Whilst the story was very dramatic and thrilling, and it had an atmosphere that really made you feel as though you were there, there are a few points that could use a bit more work. Overall the story was brilliant, exciting, thrilling, emotional, and humorous, but I felt like there wasn't enough backstory. I felt that the characters were too standard and we didn't really know enough about them to really care about them. During times of peril, I wasn't on the edge of my seat thinking "No, No don't do that", etc. The Characters were simple and the storyline was a bit predictable. Other than that, the story is fabulous and really enjoyable. The setup instructions are also perfect and tell you exactly how to set up the cinematic.

Additional Comments:
Overall a highly enjoyable cinematic scenario that is definitely worth watching. Don't be put off by the lack of player interaction of the fact that you have to install a data file. It is really an amazing cutscene that could well become an AOK classic.